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Lynk is building himself a gaming PC!


Lynk Former

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I am literally copying and pasting all of this from a thread I started in my own forum: http://www.twilightlynk.com/forums/t560/

 

Lynk shouldn't start referring to himself in the third-person...

 

I've stayed away from PC gaming for a hell of a long time because to be honest, I can't be ****ed having to deal with all the variables that go into creating your own rig. So, for a long time I've stayed clueless about this kind of stuff, but with the help of Mav and Jeff and some on the hunt education of what goes into making a gaming PC, I've come up with a list parts for my new PC.

 

Of course, the reason I'm posting this all up here is if people have suggestions/comments/critiques to make about this whole thing. That said, I have a lot of money to spend and I know a couple of things on this list aren't NEEDED, but you and I both know they're very nice to have and dammit, I'm gonna have 'em.

 

Mav and Jeff acted as a guide for the kind of things I should be looking for and what level of hardware I should be looking at, but I chose all of this stuff myself. So anyway, here's what I've got on the list to get so far...

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor

 

Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D-E Pro LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

 

Video Card: EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

 

Main Drive (SSD): Intel X25-M 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive

 

Secondary Drive (HDD): Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

 

Optical Drive: LG Blu-ray Disc Combo Internal SATA 10x SuperMulti Blue LightScribe

 

Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

 

Computer Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 700D Black Aluminium / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

 

Of course, if you guys have any suggestions, good time to make them since I'm only just scouting and haven't actually ordered/bought any of this stuff yet.

 

 

Oh and here's what I already have...

 

Monitor: Samsung 23" widescreen LCD-LED backlit monitor

 

HDTV: Sony 40" X Series Full HD Bravia LCD TV

 

Mouse: Logitech Performance Mouse MX

 

Keyboard: Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop 8000

 

Gaming Mouse: Logitech Wireless Gaming Mouse G700

 

Gameboard: Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard

 

I'm also thinking about updating my sound system in the future because the one I have atm doesn't use HDMI, but since that mobo I chose has an optical out, I guess I can use that for now.

 

Oh, and I'm also thinking about getting a better headset because Jeff complains that he can hear my game through his headset when we play :xp:

 

I was going to get that motherboard but discovered it had some terrible faults that made the pci-e x16 into an x8 if you used the usb3.0 and/or sata 3

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Nice list. I use that particular Corsair PSU on my main rig and it works fine for me.

 

Am I correct in assuming that you're going with the GTX 470 due to significant price drop to USD$250 (for the EVGA model you linked to on NewEgg anyway)? The GTX 570 is out now so I just want to be sure price is the determining factor for your choice of graphics card. It looks like the GTX 570 will cost at least USD$100 more for running 125 MHz faster clock (stock) and an additional 32 stream processors compared to the GTX 470. Of course there were some additional FP16 enhancements made to the GTX 5xx cards as well but that may not be all that important to you.

 

As far as your main board goes, what about this one from Asus?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131621

If I understand things correctly, Lynnfield class processors (like the one you've chosen and my i7 860) are limited to a total of 16 PCI-E lanes. USB 3.0/SATA 6 Gbps solutions out there, like the Gigabyte board you referenced, utilize PCI-E lanes to provide the bandwidth necessary to achieve USB 3.0/SATA 6 speeds. According to Asus's website this board uses a chip that provides an additional 4 PCI-E lanes for USB 3/SATA 6 support though I'm not sure exactly how that works if the CPU is limited to 16 lanes because ultimately the data has to go through the CPU. Here is a link to a Tweaktown review of this Asus board if you want to look into it further.

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When it comes to price... to be perfectly honest... I'm only spending about half of what I actually have available to spend on this. I have 3100AUD = 3053USD at current exchange rates that I can use on this... of course.

 

I went for the GTX 470 because of some advice I was given that there was no point buying the newer GTX 570/580 cards. I would've naturally gone with the latest ones though if I wasn't given tha advice lol.

 

As for the mobo you linked me to. A guy on my forum linked me to the same one but my last post in that thread which he hasn't replied to pretty much says that I'm worried about the same issue occurring with this mobo.

 

I mean, I'm only going to have a single GPU, I don't see the point of SLi... and I really want USB 3 and SATA 3 support for the future... I just don't know what to do. That board looks great and I like what I'm reading about it but I'm so clueless about all this stuff XD I need reassurance lol. Well anyway, I'll update the list to add that mobo you recommended.

 

 

^^^ UPDATED OPENING POST LIST

Updated mobo and changed secondary drive back to seagate

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If having a full 16 PCI-E lanes available to your graphics card and USB 3/SATA 6 Gbps support is of utmost importance then I'd recommend going with a Core i7 9xx processor instead. The Core i5 7xx processors from the Lynnfield family support a maximum of 16 PCI-E lanes so the design of the processor itself is limited to only meeting your minimum requirements. I kind of understood that before but after researching this I better understand why these new high-speed data connections have to "borrow" PCI-E lanes. Bloomfield processors like the Core i7 950 on the other hand can support up to 36 PCI-E lanes (source: Anandtech). Of course this may seem like overkill since all you want is 16 PCI-E lanes for your graphics and however many additional PCI-E lanes to support USB 3/SATA 6 Gbps (maybe 4 lanes?) but those are the choices Intel has provided. I'm sure AMD would love for you to consider their processors as well. ;) (for the record, I use Intel CPU's but don't consider myself an Intel fanboy)

 

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950 = USD$295

ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard = USD$200

G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9T-6GBNQ = USD$90

TOTAL = USD$590

 

Your listed selections for CPU, main board, and RAM total up to USD$445 so for an additional $145 you get a faster processor out of the box, an additional 2 GB of RAM, and uncompromised support for USB 3.0/SATA 6 Gbps. Just food for thought. I don't know how much the USB 3/SATA 6 Gbps is worth to you.

 

As for my opinion on GTX 470 vs GTX 570, to me it's an easy call if one doesn't yet own a Fermi-based graphics cards. I'd go with the GTX 570. I've always viewed the original GF100's (GTX 480, GTX 470, GTX 465) as beta GPU's. NVIDIA was already way behind AMD on releasing their DirectX 11 products, couldn't afford to delay any further and released what I view as a substandard product. NVIDIA didn't get everything straightened out with their Fermi architecture until they released the GTX 460 and even then they only released a handicapped version of the GF104. In short, I think the GTX 570 is what NVIDIA should have released as the GTX 470.

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XD Funnily enough, that's exactly what I did lol. I updated my forum post but I forgot to do it here... one sec...

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor

 

Motherboard: ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

 

RAM: G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory

 

Video Card: EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

 

Main Drive (SSD): Intel X25-M Mainstream 2.5" 80GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive

 

Secondary Drive (HDD): Seagate Barracuda XT ST32000641AS 2TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

 

Optical Drive: SONY Black 18X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive

 

Power Supply: CORSAIR 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply

 

Computer Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 700D Black Aluminium / Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

I did quite a bit of research on my own and came to the same conclusion after awhile and spent a few hours trying to find replacements.

 

 

Also, I have heard that nVidia did stumble with the GTX400 series from many places around the net while I was researching.... I'll consider the GTX500 series, but it all really depends if I decided to spend the extra hundred or so bucks on them.

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Looks like a nice main board to me. Am I correct in assuming you're not looking to do any overclocking on your new system?

 

And can I put in an early recruiting plug for you to join Team LFN? You could do some serious protein folding simulations with the hardware you've specced. :D

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Looks like a nice main board to me. Am I correct in assuming you're not looking to do any overclocking on your new system?

I'm new to the whole system building scene since all my life I've either had my brother build the computers or have just gotten premade computers he steals... borrows from his work. So no, I don't intend to overclock... at least not right away lol. Maybe in the future...

 

And can I put in an early recruiting plug for you to join Team LFN? You could do some serious protein folding simulations with the hardware you've specced. :D

XD Let's wait till I actually get all of this stuff together. I've only just come to the end of the planning stage for which parts I want... now it's time to hunt them all down and hope I come out of this without having to spend too much money.

 

Computer parts tend to be a lot more expensive down here :(

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  • 3 weeks later...

Aw, I missed this. :(

 

Char El gave you some good recommendations. I agree with going X58. A year or so ago I wouldn't have, because X58 was quite a bit more expensive, but, by the time I built my new rig this past year, the difference was < $100.

 

Have you built it yet?

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Yup. built it with all of the parts listed in the opening post, cept different ram and a different dvd drive. Also, the 2TB HDD I got decided to die on the 5th day so I've had to fall back on an old 320GB for now while I get myself two replacement 1TB HDDs and put them into a RAID 1 array.

 

And yeah, I've already setup Win7 with RAID drivers from the start so it's all good XD

 

It's very sweet and I'm very happy with the results, though with a couple of small quirks I can work with... apparently this PC doesn't like being put to sleep, but that's okay... since I'm using an SSD, the shutdowns and startups are nice and fast so it makes no real difference... maybe saves a tiny bit more power lol.

 

The case is nice and huge lol, which is what I like... it's basically just a big black box... like literally, it absorbs all the light so it's pitch black with nothing being reflected. I've bought myself a UN SPACY sticker (from Macross) to put on the front...

 

You can skip this paragraph...

I have a bit of a Macross theme going on with the electronic devices I can name. My main PC is "MACROSS" ...the main hard drive is "GUNSIGHT ONE" which is the callsign for the bridge of the Macross, the drive I keep all the games and the downloads folder is called "PROMETHEUS" which is the aircraft carrier that launches the fighters of the Macross, and my personal storage drive... which are the two 1TB drives I haven't bought yet but will on Tuesday, is called "DAEDALUS" after the landing craft attached to the Macross... Oh and I call my netbook "VALKYRIE" and my portable media player is "VF-19kai"... and you have no idea what I'm talking about or really care... *looks around*

 

Basically I've set up my PC with an 80GB SSD for the main OS drive, a 320GB HDD for the games, though I'm going to be upgrading that to a 500GB that I have laying around pretty soon. And when I do finally get those two 1TB drives, I'll RAID 1 them together for all of my personal files I've gathered over the course of 10 or so years.

 

Also, depending on what happens with that 2TB HDD (there's a chance the place I bought it from may replace it... or maybe not) then I'll have an extra 2TB HDD I won't know what to do with...

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Here's a recommendation for you: get an external USB 3.0 HDD dock. Don't bother with eSATA because it sucks. USB 3.0 will allow you to safely switch out the drives without having to reboot, which is not really possible with eSATA (even though it's supposed to be), while providing enough bandwidth for the drives to run at their full transfer rate (unlike USB 2.0). It's probably one of the most useful gadgets you can get. Very convenient.

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Already got a USB 3.0 drive and don't use eSATA... which is where I keep a backed up version of my personal files... but I prefer to have internal HDDs rather than having than relying on external drives. I don't have much use for external drives aside from the odd backup every now and then.

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The reason I recommend a dock is because it allows you to use bare drives and switch them out without having to open your case. This is very handy if you're keeping large files on one drive and using these files on more than one computer, like I am with DVD and Blu-Ray image files. At least here in the states, bare drives are much cheaper than dedicated external dives and external docks end up paying for themselves.

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Oh right, well, I'll consider it if I ever have the need in the future.

 

But yeah, tomorrow I'm gonna head into the city and see what I can do with that 2tb drive that died and try get myself a couple of 1tb ones for the raid 1... and I also have a 320gb and 500gb as well so I may as well use those too... dunno what for though lol.

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Sleeping can be an issue with Win7.

 

Make sure that you have your BIOS up to date, and then look at your BIOS settings regarding sleep, and power usage policies in general.

 

Then go through your Power Management in win7 and make sure your settings are matched up with what you prescribed in your BIOS.

 

This was an issue for me with an older machine I upgraded to 7, it is probably not as necessary with your brand new, top-end machinery, but still worth a look if you are still experiencing sleep/hibernation issues.

 

Nice rig ya built, Lynk! I echo Char Ell, come on and get folding! Your GPU has a warranty, test it! I am going to fold on my 460 until it explodes, because I just don't game on that machine very often, and the extra dollar or two on the power bill is worth it for me... it is probably my only measurable contribution to society :p

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